Attachment for coin-collecting apparatus.



A; U. HOEFER & L. D. BARROWS.

ATTACHMENTFOR com COLLECTVINIG APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6, 19 15.

1,]. 86,577 Patented June 13, 1916.

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/ B1 17% WW LUMBIA PLANOGRAPH cu WASHINGTON n c ALFRED U. HOEFER, OFEAST ORANGE-NEW JERSEY, AND LEONv D. BARROWS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,ASSIGNORS T0 AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY, A

CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ATTACHMENT FO'R COIN-COLLECTING APPARATUS.

Application filed'February 6, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALFRED U. Honrnn and LEON D. BARROWS, residing atEast Orange and New York, in the counties of Essex and New York andStates of New Jersey and New York, respectively, have invented certainImprovements in Attachments for Coin-Collecting Apparatus, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Occasions sometimes arise which may temporarily cause, the normaloperation of the coin collectors employed at telephone substations to beother than what is required under the circumstances. An, instance ofthis appears in connection with the collection by telephone companies,under the emergency revenue law of October 22, 1914, of the tax of onecent upon certain telephone messages. It is desirable that the user of atelephone provided with a coin box shall be able to deposit in thelatter, not only the customary toll charge, but also, if this isrequired under the law, the Federal tax of one cent. In a well knowntype of coin box which has openings for the reception of five-cent,ten-cent and twenty-five cent pieces, the introduction of a coin ofsmaller diameter into any of the openings than what they are designed toreceive causes such coin to be diverted from the deposit receptacle ofthe apparatus to a return receptacle, where it is accessible tothecalling party. To provide the standard collector with a special openingto receive the deposited one-cent pieces wouldsubject telephonecompanies to a heavy expense and would require much time. The presentinvention, by the use of an inexpensive and readily applicableattachment, adapts the usual collecting apparatus to retain coinssupplied to it in payment of the Federal tax through one of the ordinaryopenings.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows a rear elevation ofportions of a coin collecting box with our attachment appliedSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 13, 1916.

Serial No. 6,456.

thereto; Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 22 of Fig. l; and Fig.3 is a perspective View of the attachment removed from the box.

Throughout the drawings similar reference characters indicate like partsin all views.

The numeral 10 designates the casing of a familiar form of tollapparatus adapted to receive in slots on openings at its top coins ofthree denominations, the opening for twenty-fiveecent pieces appearingat 11-. Mounted within the casing below the receiving openings is arunway frame 12 formed with three channels, into which coins pass fromthe slots, are brought into contact with suitable audible signals andare delivered through discharge openings 13 into a deposit box, situatedat the bottom of the casing but which is not here illus trated. Of thesechannels of runways, that numbered 14 leads from the slot 11 past thechimes signal 15 to the opening 13. At the front of the frame 12 is anopening 16 extending along the runway 14, which openingis too narrow topermit a twenty-fivecent piece to fall through it, but which passes acent, so that the latter upon reaching the opening 16 leaves the runway14 and is received by a return chute 17. This chute is ordinarilyconstructed of sheet metal, with an inclined portion 18 reaching fromthe front wall of thecasing to the frame.

12, this furnishing a deflecting surface or floor upon which fall thesmall diameter coins from the opening 16 and from similar returnopenings for the other coin channels in the frame 12. The floor 18terminates in a downwardly extending portion 19 with at 21 ofrectangular shape. The top of the rear flange 20 has an edge 22extending horizontally from thefend' of the floor 18 to the side of thecollector casing, and between the lower portion of the flange and theeasing-wall is a space 24. The small coins sliding down the floor of thereturn chute into this passage are normally discharged through theopening 21 into a return receptacle (not illustrated) to which the userof the apparatus has access. I 7

At A appears our attachment, which closes the discharge opening of thereturn chute to retain the one-cent pieces dropped in the slot 11 withinthe collecting apparatus, and which increases the extent of the chutewall to provide a receptacle of suitable capacity for the retainedcoins, this being independent of the toll deposit receptaclel The memberA is preferably punched from sheet metal, such as spring brass, and hastwo flat arms and 26 lying at an acute angle to one another. The arm 25is of proper dimensions to close the opening 21, while the lower portionof the arm 26 corresponds in size to the rear chute-flange 20, which,when the attachment is .in position in the box, it

overlies. The outer edge of the arm 26 is situated in close proximity tothe casing wall. At the outer edge of the arm 25 a flange 28 is turnedup at right angles to said v arm toward theassociated arm, and is ofsuch a height that it enters the space 24 and thus holds the attachmentagainst inward displacement. Just above the edge 22 of the chute the arm26 is bent forwardly toward the arm 25, giving a shoulder 29 overhangingthe edge 22 and tending to retain the member A against downwardmovement; At or near the center of'the arm 26, with respect to itslateral dimension, an upwardly extending tongue 30 is formed, with itsfree extremity bent at 31 in the direction of the shoulder and then-backtoward the rear so that its tip 32 is outside the arm 26. This portion31 is of such contour that it firmly engages the edge 22 of the chuteand frunishes a spring catch by which the attachment is removably locked'in place. The portion 32 gives a finger piece through which the catchmay be drawn back to free the attachment. The yield of the arms 25 and26 also facilitates the application of the attachment to and its removalfrom the return chute.

The arm 26 is extended beyond the catch in a widened portion 33 whichfills a part of the space between the incline 18 and the casing wall,this having the effect of upwardly prolonging the wall of the returnchute above the edge 22 of the flange 20; There is thus furnished in thelower end of the chute a receptacle of considerable capacity forretaining the coins,

which in absence of the'attachment would have been delivered to thereturn receptacle. In the use of a coin collecting apparatus provldedwith our attachment, the'operator into the return chute '17.. In itspassage down the chute the rattling sound which it produces therein isheard by the operator in the same manner as are the signals given by thetoll coins. Upon reaching the end of the chute, the tax coin strikes thearm 25 of the member A, orpreviously deposited coins, and so remains inthe 'pocket formed at the bottom of the chute. At proper intervals thecollected coins may be removed by an authorized'p'erson having a key tothe locked casing 10.

We claim as our inventioni 1. A coin chute closing attachment comprisingan angular member having two arms one of which is adapted to constitutea chute closure and the other of said arms serving to attach the memberon the chute.

2. A coin chute closing attachment comprising an angular member havingtwo arms one of which is, adapted to constitute a chute closure "andtheother of said arms serving to attach the member on the chute,each ofsaid arms having portions adapted to engage parts of the chute. r v

3. A coin chute closing attachment comprising a strip of sheet metalbent to furnish two arms one of which is adapted to constitute a chuteclosure and the other serving to attach the member on the chute, thefirst-named arm having a lateral flange for engaging a part of the chuteand the secondnamed arm being provided with a spring for locking saidarm to the chute. a V

4. An attachment for coin collectors consisting of a strip of sheetmetal bent to furnish two arms, one of said arms having a lateralflange,and the other of said arms being provided with a spring tongue and witha portion beyond the tongue wider than the remainder of the arm. V

5. In combination, a coin collecting apparatus provided withla coinchute having a side wall and a discharge opening, and an attachmentcomprising a portion closing the opening and retaining a-portionextending above the side wall.

6. In combination, a coin collecting apparatus providedwith a coinreturn chute having aside wall and a discharge opening, and

" an attachment comprising a portion closing the opening and providedwith a retaining ment comprising a portion engaging the lower extremityof the chute, a catch engaging an upper edge of the chute and a portionabove the catch furnishing an extension of the chute.

8. In combination, a coin collector having a casing and a return chutesecured to the Wall of the casing and spaced therefromat its lowerextremity; and an attachment comprising portions extending across thebottom of the return chute and between the chute and wall and a catchengaging an upper edge of the chute.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, this twenty-sixth day of January,1915.

ALFRED U. HOEFER.

WVitnesses:

CHARLES J. DAVIDSON, SAMUEL RASNNIER.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, this twenty-second day ofJanuary, 1915.

LEON D. BARROVVS.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH A. GATELY, JOHN B. Hymns.

(Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,186,577, grantedJune 13, 1916, upon the application of Alfred U. Hoefer, of East Orange,N eW Jersey, and

Leon D. Barrows, of New York, N. Y., for an improvement in Attachmentsfor Coin-Collecting Apparatus, an error appears in the printedspecification requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 115, claim5, for the phrase retaining a portion read ct retaining portion; andthat the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction thereinthat the same may conform to the record of the case in the PatentOffice.

Signed and sealed this 18th day of July, A. D., 1916.

[SEAL] R. F. WHITEHEAD,

Acting Commissioner of Patents.

